Citation

Howell DR, Lugade V, Taksir M, Meehan WP. Phys. Sportsmed. 2019; ePub(ePub): 1-6.

Affiliation

g Departments of Pediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery , Harvard Medical School , MA , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00913847.2019.1632155

PMID

31198074

Abstract

Objectives: Our was objectives were to (1) assess the validity of a smartphone-based application to obtain spatiotemporal gait variables relative to an established movement monitoring system used previously to evaluate post-concussion gait, and (2) determine the test-retest reliability of gait variables obtained with a smartphone. Methods: Twenty healthy participants (n=14 females, mean age=22.2, SD=2.1 years) were assessed at two time points, approximately two weeks apart. Two measurement systems (inertial sensor system, smartphone application) acquired and analyzed single-task and dual-task spatio-temporal gait variables simultaneously. Our primary outcome measures were average walking speed (m/s), cadence (steps/min), and stride length (m) measured by the inertial sensor system and smartphone application. Results: Correlations between the systems were high to very high (Pearson r=0.77-0.98) at both time points, with the exception of dual-task stride length at time 2 (Pearson r=0.55). Bland-Altman plots for average gait speed and cadence indicated the average disagreement between systems was close to zero, suggesting little evidence for systematic bias between acquisition systems. Test-retest consistency measures using the smartphone revealed high to very high reliability for all measurements (ICC=0.81-0.95). Conclusions: Our results indicate that sensors within a smartphone are capable of measuring spatio-temporal gait variables similar to a validated three-sensor inertial sensor system in single-task and dual-task conditions, and that data are reliable across a two-week time interval. A smartphone-based application might allow clinicians to objectively evaluate gait in the management of concussion with high ease-of-use and a relatively low financial burden.

Language: en

Keywords

brain concussion; clinical research; locomotion; management; mild traumatic brain injury